Yoga - fitting it in

dss62467

dss62467

Cathlete
OK, I've got Stretch Max and really enjoy it. But I'm thinking maybe I'd like something to REALLY stretch me out. I got a yoga DVD yesterday and I'm wondering how those of you who do cardio and weights for 60-90 minutes 6 days a week and do yoga can fit the yoga in? Do you just do it on your rest days? And if not, how many days a week should it be done to see any benefit?

If I was to do it a couple hours after my regular workout, but shortly before I go to bed, would that affect my sleep? I have read that exercising shortly before bedtime is not good because it will make it harder to go to sleep. But since yoga is so relaxing, maybe it's good to do before bet? I just don't want to add extra time to my workout because I'm already taking at least an hour away from hanging out with my daughter after we've been apart all day.
 
I don't do yoga as a stand-alone session at this time, although it is on my long-term "to-do" list to add that in. That said, IMHO I don't think a yoga session before bed would make it harder for you to go to sleep. Intense cardiovascular and/or muscle conditioning exercise close to bedtime CAN negatively impact your sleep, both in terms of quantity and quality, because of exercise-induced hormones produced by the bout that jack you up. Yoga, at least "gentler" forms of yoga (as opposed to "power yoga" that many yoga producers are coming up with these days) does tend to relax you as opposed to stimulate you.

I would bet that one stand-alone yoga session per week, and yoga poses used for cool-down and flexibility at the end of your traditional session, would be ample to see benefits.

A-Jock
 
Hello,

Lately I've been getting my workouts done early in the morning, before I go to work, and when I get home at night, I'll do yoga before I go to bed. It doesn't affect my sleep at all. And I get it in without having to extend my workout in the morning (when i'm usually in a rush anyway).

Actually, the times that I have worked out at night, whether it be cardio or weights, I've been able to go to bed right after a shower and go right to sleep without a problem....
 
Donna, I find yoga on cardio days is very simple but joining it with strength depends on how intense the yoga is. I'll opt for one strength workout per body part per week when the yoga gets tough. Since I liked to do yoga 4-6 times a week, I had to sneak strength in. My 16 year old made that simple by getting into her H.S. production of Hello Dolly and making me so busy and required to stay close to home that I have had a hard time getting to my favorite yoga classes. With four days of yoga, I can do strength on the off days. Cardio can be done on yoga or strength days. I love cardio and I enjoy doing it with strength training and/or yoga lest I feel like I have missed something. Some of the yoga classes leave me drenched in sweat and depleted of all glycogen and I know which ones do that so I can amend my strength training schedule. When I first go hooked on yoga I embraced it so enthusiastically, I was perpetually exhausted in no time. But being no spring chicken, I had to plan a schedule that allowed me to recover better. I have never been able to fit in many weeks of yoga daily but I know a lot of practitioners who do. Still, they tend to do only yoga so adding it before bedtime could work really well and allow you to keep your regular workout schedule as it is. What DVD did you get? I would toss that puppy in there and see how your body responds.

Shortly before bedtime shouldn't be a problem for a fit exerciser and indeed, yoga leaves me so relaxed, I use it to help with the confounded insomnia that plagues me at times.
Bobbi http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/chicken.gif "Chick's rule!"

Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? - Mary Oliver
 
Hi Donna,

I generally only have an hour a day to workout. The beauty of yoga is that there are workouts that I think are vigorous enough to stand alone as a good workout, like a 60-80 minute Power Yoga session, and others that are shorter and less intense that are great for tacking onto the end of a cardio or weight workout, or using on a rest day.

Any amount that you can get in during the week is beneficial. I usually do yoga in the evenings and find that actually helps me sleep better.

Soosan posted a rotation a while back where she was including a lot of yoga into her regular workouts. I think she actually stretched her week out to 8 days. You might try to do a search on it.

HTH
 
Donna, thanks for posting this because I've actually been thinking a lot more about yoga lately. I normally do yoga on my rest days and use just the basic, relaxing kind. I've also done such kind of workout before bed and love it.

However, since January I've been using the yoga DVD in P90X and have been loving every minute of it. To the point where I got myself more yoga DVDs. This week I've been taking a break from all the weights and have been doing yoga everyday. I finally got the Flow series, as suggested by someone in the forum a long time ago. Well, I learned a way to hold the camel pose, a back bend that I can do but can't hold for a long time because of the curves in my spine. Now, if I can do that, I can work at holding the bridge pose, another one that's challenging to me. I also learned how to take care of this crick in my neck when holding standing poses. (Tony Horton didn't deal with such issues, and he himself admits that yoga isn't his thing, but you gotta love him for trying.) I've also been bothered by falling all the time when doing balancing poses. I used to do ballet and my balance was great. I'd like to work on that all over again. I'm thinking of sticking in yoga twice a week, 20 minutes at a stretch with a core workout, and see how that goes. After 4 days of straight yoga, I feel very light and refreshed.

Pinky
 
Donna,

Rodney Yee has a very nice evening program. He has AM and PM yoga. The PM is much slower, nice music and relaxing. It would not affect your sleeping habit. I also asked before about exercising late at night and have not jumped on it yet. But the Yee, I have done. It feels like taking a bath with lavender in it before bed time.

You sleep awesome.


~~TyTbody~~
Working towards Perpetual Motion
 
I was turned on to yoga after I sustained an injury and I couldn't workout in my usual fashion. Yoga helped me to maintain some strength, actually reduced the occurance of headaches I was having as a result of my injury, and slowly I regained flexibility solely through doing yoga.

I do yoga daily. When I do it depends on how I feel when I get out of bed. If I'm stiff and feeling that old injury I do a yoga routine right away in the morning, as soon as kids are on the bus that is. But I always do some stretching before I walk out the bedroom door, it has just become habit with me.

I always do yoga after I work out and after I've stretched. There are different forms of yoga as well so try different schools of thought and see which techniques best suit you.

Everyone should learn to do yoga.
 
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